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Christmas Banner Banned in Australian Community

How do they say Bah Humbug down under? Australia is putting itself on the map as a player in the War on Christmas as the community of Bland Shire may be keeping it’s “Merry Christmas” banner in storage due to a new regulation that calls the phrase “too offensive”.

Under the regulation, Christmas and Easter banners would be allowed to be hung by the town council if deemed â€œpromotionalâ€ but banners would not be allowed to be hung by â€œother partiesâ€.

Former councillor David Bolte called it â€œpolitical correctness gone madâ€ when he addressed council in the public forum last week.

â€œI only ask for the right to remind the community we have the Christmas and Easter holidays because of the birth, death and resurrection of Christ,â€ he said.

Mr Bolte considered it an attack on Christian groups, questioning if the regulation was â€œdiscriminatoryâ€.

He claimed that in the last census, 80 per cent of Bland Shire residents declared they followed a Christian faith.

Mayor Neil Pokoney said a new version of the policy was being reviewed, which would see banners associated with gazetted public holidays allowed.

â€œThe wording of the regulation was just a bit too broad,â€ Pokoney said.

â€œPrior to this we didnâ€™t have regulation pertaining to public banners â€“ which is something council should be exercising control over.â€